Friday, April 19, 2013

Using iDoneThis to Figure Out What the Heck I Did Today

I struggle with remembering everything I accomplished during my work day. I think iDoneThis will help.

"What did you get done last week?"

If answering that question would be a struggle, iDoneThis might be able to help.

My Problem with Logging Tasks

I've been using Google Tasks + Google Calendar to document my plans and accomplishments for the day. But, inevitably, I leave something out. I may, for example, spend several hours running unplanned reports and forget to add it as a completed task, or I get bogged down in email correspondence (which I never add to my calendar) and wonder where my day went.

And when it comes to preparing my timesheet, I sometimes struggle to see exactly how my week went.

Where iDoneThis Comes In

After reading about it somewhere (Lifehacker? Twitter? Eh, I forget.) and only finding team account pricing, I suggested that iDoneThis should have a free personal account. Turns out, they already do. Yay!

While the name makes me cringe a little, the functionality is rather cool. Simply put, it lets you easily track what you accomplished each day by either 1) adding it to an online calendar, 2) replying to a daily email with a list of tasks or 3) adding things as they happen via email or the web interface.

So far, I haven't missed a day; today will be my fifth day of use. I like the tickler that helps me remember what I got done.

I'm excited about the potential of displaying my iDoneThis daily reports on my Google Calendar (shown in purple in the screen capture below). I've contacted their help desk to suggest some improvements, but it's a great start.

Time will tell if iDoneThis becomes part of my long-term productivity plans. But, I definitely feel like it fills a gap in my process and I plan to continue using it.

Side note: iDoneThis hasn't asked me write this post, or compensated me in any way. I'm just a happy user wanting to share my experience.

Jenna Weiner is a rather geeky girl with average social skills and an affinity for: Google Apps, Salesforce.com, Pinterest, Firefly, dresses, indoor plants and life-hacking.
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Hi, I'm Jenna.

I can't seem to squelch a desire to find better ways to do All The Things, utilize technology to boost personal productivity, and leverage digital tools to organize my everyday life. If you find yourself similarly inclined, welcome!

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The content I share on this blog reflects my own opinions and experiences, not that of my employer or any other company. Please note that software or techniques mentioned in past posts may no longer be applicable. I try to post updates when possible, but if you have any questions please reach out via the comment area in the sidebar.